Former substitute teacher prefers to clown around

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SAN FRANCISCO, CA – OCTOBER 05: Kenny the Clown blows up balloons along Jefferson Street at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, Calif., on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2019. Kenneth Kahn, of Alameda, a former teacher, has been performing for 17 years. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – OCTOBER 05: Kenny the Clown gives away free balloons as people walk by along Jefferson Street at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, Calif., on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2019. Kenneth Kahn, of Alameda, a former teacher, has been performing for 17 years. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

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SAN FRANCISCO, CA – OCTOBER 05: Kenny the Clown works his spot along Jefferson Street at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, Calif., on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2019. Kenneth Kahn, of Alameda, a former teacher, has been performing for 17 years. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – OCTOBER 05: Kenny the Clown receives a tip along Jefferson Street at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, Calif., on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2019. Kenneth Kahn, of Alameda, a former teacher, has been performing for 17 years. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – OCTOBER 05: Kenny the Clown poses with his friend and fellow street performer Larry the “Bushman” along Jefferson Street at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, Calif., on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2019. Kenneth Kahn, of Alameda, a former teacher, has been performing for 17 years. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – OCTOBER 05: Kenny the Clown twists balloons as a young child passes by along Jefferson Street at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, Calif., on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2019. Kenneth Kahn, of Alameda, a former teacher, has been performing for 17 years. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – OCTOBER 05: Kenny the Clown works his spot along Jefferson Street at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, Calif., on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2019. Kenneth Kahn, of Alameda, a former teacher, has been performing for 17 years. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – OCTOBER 05: Kenny the Clown gives out free balloons along Jefferson Street at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, Calif., on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2019. Kenneth Kahn, of Alameda, a former teacher, has been performing for 17 years. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – OCTOBER 05: Kenny the Clown blows up balloons along Jefferson Street at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, Calif., on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2019. Kenneth Kahn, of Alameda, a former teacher, has been performing for 17 years. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – OCTOBER 05: A young girl tips Kenny the Clown after receiving a free balloon along Jefferson Street at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, Calif., on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2019. Kenneth Kahn, of Alameda, a former teacher, has been performing for 17 years. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – OCTOBER 05: Kids play with free balloons given to them by Kenny the Clown along Jefferson Street at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, Calif., on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2019. Kenneth Kahn, of Alameda, a former teacher, has been performing for 17 years. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – OCTOBER 05: Kenny the Clown gives out free balloons along Jefferson Street at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, Calif., on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2019. Kenneth Kahn, of Alameda, a former teacher, has been performing for 17 years. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – OCTOBER 05: Kenny the Clown works his spot as tourists pass by along Jefferson Street at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, Calif., on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2019. Kenneth Kahn, of Alameda, a former teacher, has been performing for 17 years. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – OCTOBER 05: Kenny the Clown twists balloons along Jefferson Street at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, Calif., on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2019. Kenneth Kahn, of Alameda, a former teacher, has been performing for 17 years. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – OCTOBER 05: Kids play with balloons given to them by Kenny the Clown along Jefferson Street at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, Calif., on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2019. Kenneth Kahn, of Alameda, a former teacher, has been performing for 17 years. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – OCTOBER 05: Kenny the Clown twists balloons along Jefferson Street at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, Calif., on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2019. Kenneth Kahn, of Alameda, a former teacher, has been performing for 17 years. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

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“Welcome to San Fran Silliness! I mean San Francisco,” Kenny the Clown says as he jokes with tourists along Fisherman’s Wharf.

Behind the traditional white makeup with red lines, Kenny the Clown is Kenneth Kahn, 56, a former substitute teacher from Alameda who started clowning around about 17 years ago. His former girlfriend introduced him to local performer Buki the Clown at a Halloween party and suggested he would be good at it. He never looked back.

Today, in addition to performing at private parties and festivals, he’s a staple street performer at San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf, where he can be found next to his bubble machine on Jefferson Street near the fishing boat dock. At about 6 feet 4 and 275 pounds, the former Encinal High School point guard has a huge clown presence in his red suit with white polka dots.

“Everybody’s on vacation here; it’s kind of fresh and new for them. That’s what I like, the people,” Kahn said.

On a recent beautiful fall day, with views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the Marin Headlands, Kenny the Clown was hanging out with his fellow street performer friend Larry the Bushman as hordes of tourists passed by the City by the Bay’s most world-famous destination. He spends three to four days a week there, sometimes working nearly 12-hour days when it’s busy. It’s paid off, and in 2008 he won the title of SF Weekly’s “Best Fisherman’s Wharf Street Performer.”

“Seeing the joy of a kid just smiling and laughing, and bringing that out, that’s the ultimate,” Kahn said. “It’s nice to be important; it’s more important to be nice,” he jokes.

Jokes aside, Kenny the Clown also has made a foray into politics. He ran for mayor of Alameda in 2006, and when he came in a distant third, ran for mayor of San Francisco in 2007, garnering a whopping three votes. Undeterred, he unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Alameda again in 2010.

But his real 15 minutes of fame is pretty hard to top. Kenny the Clown unknowingly ended up using former Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ stolen iPad for a few days back in 2012. It’s a long story you can read at https://wp.me/p7ShJJ-2kyD.

Kahn had no idea the device came from the fabled Jobs residence until after the friend who gave him the gadget was charged with breaking into the CEO’s Palo Alto home. By then, the cops had already shown up at his door and taken the iPad away. Needless to say, Kahn generally seems to generate news.

Kariem McFarlin, of Alameda, was accused of stealing iPods, Macs, Tiffany & Co. Jewelry, and even Jobs’ wallet and driver’s license by using a spare key he found on the property to break into the home, which was under construction in 2012. The former San Jose State University football player was sentenced to seven years in state prison for the bold heist.

“He’s a nice guy who made a horrible, horrible decision,” Kahn said at the time. “I wish I could ask him: ‘What were you thinking?’ ”

Kahn attended graduate school at UC Berkeley at one point, wanting to be a child therapist, but seeing kids in so much pain took a toll on him. Now, he gives back to children through his performances.

Kenny the Clown also enjoys taking his clown show on the road. He’s been to the last eight Mardi Gras in New Orleans, seven French Quarter festivals there in the city that put the “fun” in funeral, three Oktoberfest Zinzinnati and three Fiesta San Antonio gigs. While he keeps his Fisherman’s Wharf act to twisting balloons, Kenny the Clown, who is mostly self-taught, also does a magic show, rides a unicycle and juggles, though not all at the same time.

“Find a job you love to do and you never have to work a day in your life,” Kahn said.

He doesn’t like that clowns have been often associated with creepiness instead of fun.

“Clowns have been getting a bad rap because of scary movies, but clowning is about spreading joy and laughter,” Kahn said. “If you’re scared of clowns, you just haven’t met me yet.”

Jane Tyska is an award-winning staff photojournalist, videojournalist, drone pilot and picture editor based out of Oakland, and has worked for the Bay Area News Group since 1997. She's there when news breaks and has been known to arrive on assignment by many modes of transport, including motorcycle and boat.

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